Known for its style, speed and performance marketing values, Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational company based in Milan, Italy, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, with a temporary privatization period by the consortium led by the Chinese state-owned enterprise ChemChina.
Pirelli Tire North America is increasing prices on all its passenger and light truck tyre lines, excluding its P4/P5 touring lines, by up to 4.5 per cent as of January 1. The company states “escalating raw materials costs” as the basis for the new year price rises.
Pirelli’s intention to acquire an existing facility in Russia have been confirmed by official news of a joint venture agreement signed between the Italian tyre maker and state-owned firm Russian Technologies. According to the December 3 news, the terms of the agreement extend the collaboration to produce tyres and steelcord in Russia to not only include the construction of a plant in the Samara region in the second half of 2010. The 50/50 joint venture agreement will also cover, in Pirelli’s words, an already existing factory “which is currently being identified among some potentially interesting Russian enterprises”. The acquisition will most likely take place in 2010, Pirelli adds.
Marangoni and Pirelli Tyre have signed a collaboration agreement covering the retreading of heavy vehicle tyres. This new agreement reinforces the previous deal signed in 2003 for Europe, and recently extended to incorporate South America, a region where Pirelli holds undisputed truck tyre segment leadership and Marangoni has developed an important, qualified presence in the retread market.
Market share data released by Hankook shows that Michelin remains the undisputed leader in both the car and truck tyre segments. However, the previously exclusive stable of top five tyre manufacturers has gained a new member in 2009. Hankook’s decision to publish its projections of how the land lies, following one of the most tumultuous periods in the market’s history, may only have happened because it was a good year for the South Korean tyre manufacturer, however the fact remains the unusual combination of events experienced in the last 12 months means there are signs that the status quo has been disrupted. Looking forward the question is: will the company be able to sustain this position in the years to come?
Here’s Hankook’s calculation of how the European car tyre market will look at the end of 2009. Michelin remains market leader with a 20 per cent market share, followed by Goodyear Dunlop (18 per cent). Bridgestone are next on the list with a 12 per cent share of the market, followed by Pirelli with 8 per cent. And here’s where things get interesting. Hankook are in sixth place with a 7 per cent market share, snapping at the heels of fifth-placed Pirelli who are only one percentage point ahead with 8 per cent.
Pirelli Tyres and Parts reports its adherence to the Copenhagen Communiqué on Climate Change, an initiative promoted by the University of Cambridge supported organisation the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders’ Group on Climate Change. This communiqué, issued by the business leaders of over 500 global companies, calls for “an ambitious, robust and equitable global deal on climate change that responds credibly to the scale and urgency of the crises facing the world today” and urges the world leaders meeting at December’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to tackle environmental issues with the same level of resolve and coordination as witnessed in the London Summit’s response to the global downturn.
Hankook are now the sixth largest tyre manufacturer in Europe, according to company figures. Speaking during a tour of the South Korean-based tyre manufacturer’s Racalmas, Hungary tyre production plant in November, European PR manager, Felix Kinzer, announced that the company now calculates it is the seventh largest tyre maker in the world in terms of units sales; and not far from sixth. Tyres & Accessories' own data, which calculates the rankings based on the value of sales using the euro as the control currency, puts the company in eighth. Algebraical differences aside, the point is that Hankook is gaining ground on its competitors, something that is even clearer when you look at Hankook's take on the current European leaderboard. The company’s calculation puts Hankook in sixth place in the European passenger car tyre market with a 7 per cent market share, snapping at the heels of fifth-placed Pirelli with 8 per cent. Things are even better in the truck and bus tyre business, where the company’s market share has reportedly grown to nine per cent, putting the company in fifth place after Bridgestone (13 per cent), this time ahead of Pirelli (5 per cent). When you consider the rapid growth rates Hankook' sales are currently experiencing, the company's arguably ambitious calculations deserve further attention.
Pirelli & C SpA and state-run Russian Technologies will reportedly buy an existing tyre plant in Russia “next year.” Speculation continues as to exactly which plant Pirelli is interested in. However, Pirelli group chairman Marco Tronchetti-Provera’s earlier remarks that the plant is “relatively new” suggest it is likely to be an ex-Amtel-Vredestein site, with Voroznezh and Kirov leading the running.
Quoting a joint statement published today (3 December 2009), the two companies confirmed that their joint venture will also build a new plant in the Samara region of Russia for production of tyres and metal cord. As has been previously been reported, the new 300 million euro ($453.4 million) plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 4 million units within five years and employ 1,500 people.
Continental Tire North America has become tyre supplier for the US based Grand-Am Road Sports Car Challenge Racing series. In a five-year agreement that begins on January 1, Continental takes on the championship’s exclusive tyre supply and title sponsorship. The series will henceforth be known as the “Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge” and will utilise Conti’s newly released ExtremeContact tyre range.
Hankook has cancelled plans to include run-flat production in the current phase of expansion at the company's Racalmas, Hungary tyre manufacturing plant. Despite announcing that the company would include run-flat tyre production in this round of expansion as recently as 9 September, executive vice-president and COO of Hankook Tire Jin-Wook Choi told Tyres & Accessories/tyrepress.com that the company is now prioritising standard tyre production due to demand continuing to outstrip supply in Europe, particularly in terms of UHP sizes. Hankook Tire Europe managers conceded that the decision will result in cost savings and that this was a consideration in the discussions leading up to the decision, however they also pointed out that the company is on course to invest as much as 10 per cent more than the 500 million euros initially earmarked for the total project. The current second phase of construction at the Racalmas site, which started production in 2007, will see the company double current capacity from 5 to 10 million passenger car tyres annually over the next 18 months at a cost of around 230 million euros.
During Pirelli’s third quarter conference call on November 5, company chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera confirmed plans to establish two factories in Russia. The first of these is to be acquired, the second a previously announced joint venture greenfield facility.
Deutsche Bank Equity Research analysts report Pirelli’s intention to purely concentrate on the company’s tyre business following the spin-off of its real estate assets by mid-2010. Once this has taken place, tyres will represent 95 per cent of Pirelli’s revenues, the report adds. Management at the Italian manufacturer is said view the coming year with confidence, a positive view driven mostly by a recovery of volumes in replacement markets. It believes the entire seven per cent decline experienced in the passenger car tyre market and half the truck tyre market’s 14 per cent drop can be recovered during 2010. This positive effect, comments the bank’s analysts, should more than offset a small increase in raw material expenses, as the tyre industry is expected to remain “disciplined” in passing on raw material price increases to consumers.
Pirelli has organised a 100 million euro loan with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in order to support research and development projects in the years between 2009 and 2012. A financing agreement was signed on November 12 and Pirelli states this new loan consolidates the relationship it has with the EIB, which in the past contributed to the company’s “constant commitment to innovation and development of its competitiveness on a global scale.”
The 37th edition of the revered Pirelli Calendar was presented to the world at its London launch on November 19. Those fortunate enough to receive a first glimpse of the 2010 incarnation of ‘The Cal’ at the Old Billingsgate venue were treated to a visual banquet of 30 images produced by American photographer Terry Richardson, a man Pirelli describes as an “enfant terrible” known for his provocative and outrageous approach.
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Regardless of whether you view ‘girlie calendars’ as art worthy of prolonged admiration or frown upon the exposure of bare flesh, there’s no denying the influence the Pirelli Calendar – the ‘Cal’ to its friends – has imparted upon the genre. In Pirelli’s own words, the Cal is “the icon of Pirelli's communication. A symbol that for over forty years not only celebrates female beauty, but also celebrates the complexity of an art that has been able to transform itself over time.” This evening, the 2010 edition of the famous wall adornment will be launched in London – bookmark tyrepress.com to ensure you don’t miss our coverage of the prestigious event.
Pirelli reports that growing raw materials and energy costs are the reason for announcing a 10 per cent price increase for all car, motorcycle and truck product lines in its Middle Eastern and African markets. The price increase will being to take effect in the various markets in mid November 2009.
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